Cheryl W. Thompson

Cheryl W. Thompson is an associate professor who teaches investigative journalism at George Washington University and writes investigative stories for The Washington Post. Since coming to The Post in 1997, she has written extensively about law enforcement, political corruption and guns, including an investigative series on firearms that tracked guns used to kill more than 500 police officers in the U.S. In 2015, her reporting revealed nearly 40 witnesses to crime in the D.C. area were killed for talking to authorities or out of fear that they might. Her national investigation in November found that nearly one person a week died after being Tasered by police. That story was part of the newspaper’s year-long series on police shootings.

She has won numerous awards, including an Emmy, National Headliner, and two Salute to Excellence awards from the National Association of Black Journalists. She also was part of a team that won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting. Ms. Thompson has a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The Chicago native is a member of the Investigative Reporters and Editors board, and the Fund for Investigative Journalism board of directors.